Adding a second guitar


Svanholm
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Svanholm
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11/03/2014 2:59 pm
If you have a song witch chords and everything wich you play with one guitar. If you wana add a second guitar, what does he play? Does he play the exacly same thing or?
# 1
maggior
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maggior
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11/03/2014 3:06 pm
You could do that. You'd want to add some variety though. Perhaps the second guitar could play more sparsely. You could use a capo and use different chord voicings on one guitar.

What type of music? If it's folk music, you can get away with just 2 people strumming away on acoustic guitars, as long as they are strumming in time with eachother. This can create a really full sound.
# 2
Svanholm
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Svanholm
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11/03/2014 9:05 pm
Well...all styles I quess. I dont have any favorit.
But I guess some accoustic, 60s, country, blues, etc.


The thing is I wana use a nylon stringed for main rhytm and a steal string for solos, etc.
# 3
maggior
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maggior
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11/03/2014 9:09 pm
That would certainly mix things up and give you variety. The tone of a nylon stringed guitar is completely different from a steel stringed guitar, so you'll get your variety from just that.
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haghj500
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haghj500
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11/04/2014 2:17 am
We use to have one play bar chords while the other played open and would switch off from song to song. It seemed to help the fingers from fatiguing out. Some songs sound better if you both play the chord in the same place.
# 5
ChristopherSchlegel
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ChristopherSchlegel
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11/04/2014 2:44 pm
Originally Posted by: SvanholmIf you have a song witch chords and everything wich you play with one guitar. If you wana add a second guitar, what does he play? Does he play the exacly same thing or?

Great questions! This is all about the art of arrangement. And in this case arranging for a recording.

It's always best to experiment & see for yourself what works & what doesn't. In my experience, I've read that certain guitars, chords, harmonies, etc. will typically work in certain ways, with or against each other. But until I actually tried it myself I didn't know why or realize what my own particular tastes were.

After doing a lot of that kind of arranging & recording I have a much better idea of what works, why & how.

To answer your questions.

The other guitar should play something that compliments the first part. It should work with it & not against it. If it interferes, it will sound cluttered & bad. This part could be the exact same thing, which will typically make the whole thing sound louder & more powerful. But if both parts aren't played pretty closely in sync, then it will probably be a muddy disaster! :)

On the other hand they could be complimentary parts that completely stay out of each others way. But that still means they are playing the same thing musically.

A nylon string acoustic could play open chord voicings low on the neck while an electric with a clean tone can play the same chords, but different voicings of them up higher on the neck.

So, using different guitars, chord voicings, timbres, playing busy on one guitar & sparsely on another, these are all options to try when arranging for multiple guitars in a recording!

Anders explores some of these options with examples in the Rock course.

http://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=22633

Also study some of your favorite songs to see how multiple guitars are arranged. For example, this Beatles song uses multiple guitars in clever ways.

http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=1888

Hope this helps. Have fun with it!
Christopher Schlegel
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Christopher Schlegel Lesson Directory
# 6
Svanholm
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Svanholm
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11/04/2014 3:41 pm
Originally Posted by: CSchlegel

A nylon string acoustic could play open chord voicings low on the neck while an electric with a clean tone can play the same chords, but different voicings of them up higher on the neck.



May you explaine that a little bit futher?
# 7
ChristopherSchlegel
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ChristopherSchlegel
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11/05/2014 4:38 pm
Originally Posted by: SvanholmMay you explaine that a little bit futher?

Absolutely!

Suppose your song starts with a measure of G major chord. That's a very general & broad idea. In order to be more precise & specific you have to make some decisions.

Where & how are you going to play it? Strumming? Picking? Arpeggiated? With what sound? There are hundreds of places & ways to play the notes of a G major chord! :)

Here's one example. The nylon string guitar lightly strums the open G chord in even 1/8th notes.

|--3--3--3--3--3--3--3--3-----------|
|--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0-----------|
|--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0-----------|
|--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0-----------|
|--2--2--2--2--2--2--2--2-----------|
|--3--3--3--3--3--3--3--3-----------|

While a clean electric guitar with a little reverb plays a G major chord in a higher voicing, but arpeggiating the notes to be a little more sparse & avoid getting in the way of the busy strumming of the nylon.

|--10---------------------------------|
|--------12----------12---------------|
|---------------12--------------------|
|-------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------|

Or you can completely separate them rhythmically. Here's another example!
Nylon string guitar plays one G barre chord & lets it ring for the whole measure.

|--3-~~~~~~~~---------|
|--3-~~~~~~~~---------|
|--4-~~~~~~~~---------|
|--5-~~~~~~~~---------|
|--5-~~~~~~~~---------|
|--3-~~~~~~~~---------|

While the clean guitar sits out the first beat for the nylon guitar, then comes in on beats 2, 3 & 4 with a higher voiced inversion.

|-------------------------|
|--R-----12--12--12-------|
|--E-----12--12--12-------|
|--S-----12--12--12-------|
|--T----------------------|
|-------------------------|
|-------------------------|

Those are just 2 options! Your choices are virtually limitless. :) Check out Anders in the Rock course for more examples.

http://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=22633

And here are my tutorials on chord inversions to find every possible place to play a chord on the guitar.

http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=148
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=730
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=731
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=733
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=734

Have fun!
Christopher Schlegel
Guitar Tricks Instructor

Christopher Schlegel Lesson Directory
# 8
Svanholm
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Svanholm
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11/05/2014 8:49 pm
Wow......I mean...this is why I am a member here! You can ask almost everything about music and guitars and you get it so well explained, even if you are a moron like me. ;)

Thank you so mush Chris! That explanation and Anders lessons really explained a lot for me! :)


//Mattias
# 9
ChristopherSchlegel
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ChristopherSchlegel
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11/06/2014 4:12 pm
Originally Posted by: Svanholm
Thank you so mush Chris! That explanation and Anders lessons really explained a lot for me! :)

Good deal! You are welcome. Have fun exploring those ideas with your guitar. :)
Christopher Schlegel
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Christopher Schlegel Lesson Directory
# 10
MikeOD
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MikeOD
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02/04/2015 2:12 pm
We have experimented with this quite a bit. We are a folk duo. One idea that worked well was to add a bass guitar. It can be quite simple, but sounds great because it is an octave different. The other one was, one acoustic guitar strums chords while the other picks notes from the scale of the song, be it major or minor scale depending if it is a major chord song or minor.
# 11

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